Extreme heat in Singapore: plans, cycles and who is at work
A city-state with hot nights, dense towers and an early national heat stress advisory. Heat plan: heat plan in force.
Heat type: Humid heat, all year round. Dry heat and humid heat, explained.
Heat action plan: Heat plan in force
Singapore launched a national Heat Stress Advisory in July 2023. It rates heat stress as low, moderate or high from the wet-bulb globe temperature, and tells people what to do at each level.
Sources: Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, 2023
Heat today
Live readings and the week’s forecast are on the interactive map. Official warnings: Meteorological Service Singapore. How much climate change shaped today’s heat: Climate Shift Index map, Climate Central.
Vicious cycles the evidence ties to Singapore
The sleepless-nights loop
Singapore has averaged 76 warm nights a year over four decades; by 2100 they could come on most nights. Source: National Environment Agency, Singapore, 2024
The cooling trap
The commercial centre has measured up to about 7 °C warmer than the outskirts on calm, clear nights. Source: Cooling Singapore, citing Chow and Roth, 2006
The dying-green loop
Among the cities where the most urban tree species already face temperatures beyond their range. Source: Esperon-Rodriguez et al., Nature Climate Change, 2022
The invisible-deaths loop
Workplace monitors found more heat stress than nearby weather stations reported. Source: NUS Project HeatSafe, 2024
Who heat hits hardest here
A worked plan to learn from
Singapore’s heat rules for outdoor work (Singapore, 2023 onwards)
Already at work here
- National Environment Agency, Singapore: Issues public heat stress advisories through myENV and weather services, so people can adjust outdoor activity as heat rises.
- Ministry of Manpower, Singapore: Requires hourly wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) checks on outdoor worksites, shaded rest breaks when heat stress is high, and time for new workers to acclimatise, and enforces the rules.
- Singapore Management University, Urban Institute: Studies urban heat vulnerability and cooling through the Cooling Singapore collaboration, linking neighbourhood conditions to climate-sensitive planning.
- National Research Foundation, Singapore: Funds Project HeatSafe, which studies heat, health and productivity among workers in Singapore and partner countries including Vietnam and Cambodia, and Cooling Singapore.
- Monetary Authority of Singapore: Its 2020 environmental risk guidelines expect banks to assess physical climate risk, including through scenario analysis and stress tests. Its Singapore-Asia Taxonomy (2023) covers emission cuts only, so there are no criteria yet for finance that helps people adapt to heat.
- C40 Cities: Its Cool Cities Accelerator brings together cities including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Singapore on early warnings, building standards and tree cover.